News

All the latest news and views from the CPSU team

Week in Review

Eight Hour Day

MONDAY we celebrated the Eight Hour Day. Decent work hours are something that we need so we can enjoy what we love, spend time with friends and family, or just to put our feet up! The Eight Hour Day is an achievement union members have won and it’s worth celebrating.

Read about the history behind Labour Day – or the Eight Hour Day and what it’s all abouthere.

Child Protection funding welcomed

ON TUESDAY the Minister for Human Services Jacquie Petrusma announced a commitment of $20 million over four years for Child Protection Services, with most of this going directly towards current services in our Public Sector.

It was also great to see the Department of Health and Human Services’ commitment on our Facebook page that Intake wouldn’t be privatised. This is a big step forward, and a result Child Protection Member activity to secure the additional resources and support they need to support vulnerable children and their families.

When Members take action and work together, people listen. We’ll continue to examine the report Minister Petrusma released, talk to Child Protection Members to get their feedback and go from there.

These are the other creatures that have made it into our state in the last few months

Norwegian salmon

German cockroaches

A Victorian gecko and now

A giant panda snail.

The workload of Biosecurity Tasmania staff is going through the roof but they’re not increasing the staff – more resources are needed to protect our unique island state.

Transport inspectors: privatisation after Hodgman government creates another crisis

THE HODGMAN Government is again washing its hands of the services Tasmania needs and handing over control. This time it’s looking to privatise key roles of Transport Inspectors.

CPSU General Secretary Tom Lynch said that ultimately it will mean that roads Tasmanians travel on and use for their business won’t be as safe.

It comes as the workload for Transport Inspectors is going up, there are more vehicles on our roads but there are five vacant positions sitting empty. Yet instead of increasing staff and filling positions to cope with the extra work, the Hodgman Government’s solution is to hand over control of this key service – the safety of our roads – to a third party.

Too much work, not enough staff – sound familiar?

The Hodgman government seem to have a clear strategy, creating a crisis in the public sector.

1) Don’t put in additional resources into a service that is overstretched

2) Leave positions vacant

3) If you do have to advertise positions, make them fixed term to discourage experienced people from applying.

Then you have your crisis – you can claim “let’s outsource this service because it’s not running properly” even though it’s been deliberately starved of funds.

We need to keep our services in public hands so they’re working for the benefit of all us. Our roads and safety are too important for the government to wash its hands from.

We’re seeing exactly the same model rolled out in Family Violence by Minister Petrusma. Too much work, not enough staff but instead of adequately resourcing this crucial service Minister Petrusma is outsourced.

Health System in Crisis

THERE’s been story after story about Tasmanians suffering because of our under resourced and under staffed health system.

A 91-year-old veteran had to wait two days for surgery at the Launceston General Hospital

A woman miscarried on a chair at the Royal Hobart Hospital Emergency department and a Hobart doctor had no access to running water to scrub in before a performing emergency surgery, having to use bottled water instead.

Opposition Housing Fears

“Under the conditions of privatisation, introduced into the Parliament last week and guided through by beleaguered minister Jacquie Petrusma, the properties can be sold from under families within five years. Five hundred homes will be eligible to be sold within five years, right from underneath the current tenant” – Human Services Shadow Minister Rebecca White.